


Commission

by Paraselene_Spear



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21691858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paraselene_Spear/pseuds/Paraselene_Spear
Summary: Futaba convinces Yusuke to help cure their boredom and accumulate serious cash in the process.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 80





	Commission

Yusuke narrowed his eyes, his gaze focusing intently on his current work. He leaned back a bit to get an entire look at the sketch, meticulously scanning for any details that didn't work, didn't fit, or could use improving.

He hummed in thought as he caught a small inconsistency between lines, so small that correcting it would need a steady hand and concentration. He grasped his pencil and prepared himself.

He brought the tip of his drawing tool closer. He needed to make sure it was quick and precise lest he ruin the sketch entirely.

He settled the tip on the paper. A smooth, quick stroke was required. Nothing more, nothing less.

He paused for a moment. Yusuke wanted to make sure all variables were accounted for.

Once he was satisfied, he readied his hand.

...

...

...

...

...

...

_Just one, small, stro-_

_**"Inari!"** _

* * *

Futaba had entered her room where Yusuke was waiting. She needed a quick drink before they got down to business. She opened the door and called out at the same time.

"Inari!" She chirped, her insult being just another name these days.

She threw her water bottle absentmindedly on her bed and followed, situating herself next to Yusuke. He seemed rather immersed in his current sketch, having not responded at all.

"Uh, hey," Futaba called again, tapping the artist's shoulder. "Hellooooo? Inari?"

She shrugged in annoyance and sidled up his shoulder to see the sketch that was apparently more important than her. A very detailed drawing of a fox's face graced the page, so detailed that she could make out the individual fur hairs. She would've been extremely impressed if not for one thing.

"Hey, Inari, why is there a giant dark line going across the page?"

Just like she said, the picture was marred by a line of graphite that looked as if it was drawn by smashing and dragging the pencil on the page.

"I don't know, Futaba," Yusuke finally said, sounding unusually calm. "Why _is_ there a line that scars my paper so? Is it there to represent my failures as an artist? Or does it symbolize the torturous existence that is my life and the mistakes I've made in associating myself with the pawn of the devil?"

"Woah, man. I dunno. I was just asking. The fox looked neat. Why are you being weirder than usual?"

Yusuke slowly turned to look at her, a large breathing entering his nose and filling his lungs. His eyes met Futaba's and lingered there for several seconds before he slowly turned back to his sketchpad.

"I am fine."

The redhead tilted her head in curiosity at her friend's behavior before shrugging it off.

"Alright, whatever you say man. Anyways, get comfortable, I'm ready!"

Yusuke sighed and tossed his ruined drawing onto the bed as Futaba wheeled in a large paper easel with wheels before him. It was a simple thing, a normal easel that held several sheets of paper one could flip over to continue to the one beneath when they were through and _wait why does this look a lot like his-_

"Ladies, Feathermen, and Yusukes!" Futaba started, taking on a voice that seemed to imitate those of ring announcers. "Thank you for coming! Now, I know you're wondering why you're here today!"

"I'm here because you insisted that you'd 'brick' my phone if I didn't."

"Shhh," Futaba dropped the act and pouted. "You're ruining my whole schtick!"

"And you're ruining my day. Is there a reason why I'm here?"

Futaba let out a mock gasp before sticking her tongue out at Yusuke.

"Boo hoo. But yes! There is a reason why I have called upon you! Direct your attention to the drawing board."

Yusuke watched the little hacker excitedly scramble around the easel and turn the page over.

He was met with a large title, _"Oracle's Super Awesome Get Rich Plan feat. Fox,"_ along with two crudely drawn figures that appeared to represent the two of them.

He raised an eyebrow while Futaba looked at him, a wide smile and expectant eyes aimed towards him. She jumped and continued.

"Right! So, remember that conversation we had around two weeks ago?"

"The one about whether a straw has one hole or two?"

"What?- No, the other one. The one where I called us broke."

"Ah," Yusuke said, his memory recalling the conversation the two had on a rainy afternoon in Leblanc.

* * *

_Yusuke took another sip of his coffee, admiring The Sayuri in comfort under the sounds of raindrops. Meanwhile, his companion, stretched across the top of the bar, groaned._

_"Yuuuuuuuske," the young computer whiz whined, "I'm booooooooored."_

_The blue-haired artist placed his cup down._

_"I can tell."_

_Futaba continued to let loose a noise that signaled her discomfort before sliding off the bar and into a seat._

_"We should do something, Inari."_

_"And what, pray tell, would that be?"_

_"I dunno."_

_"Well, then I suppose we must continue to waste away here in boredom."_

_He didn't notice she had gotten so close until she slapped his arm in response to his comment. She sat in the same booth in front of him and set her head down on the table._

_"Usually Ren and I would play video games or something, but he and Mona are in their fake home right now." Futaba reminisced over the days when their leader was with them, the young teen now spending a year away in his hometown to prove his worth before returning to Tokyo._

_Yusuke took his gaze off The Sayuri and to his partner-in-crime. "What of the others?"_

_"Ryuji's helping his mom with stuff right now. He's got schoolwork stuff too."_

_"Ann?"_

_"She's with her other bestie for a week. Shiho or something."_

_"Makoto?"_

_"University, studying, getting all lovey-dovey and smoochey-smoochey with Ren over the phone."_

_"Haru?"_

_"Being all rich and fabulous. Oh, and university."_

_Yusuke nodded his head in solidarity. "It seems that all our comrades are busy right now. I suppose that's reasonable with who they are."_

_Futaba let out a sound resembling a scoff. "Are you saying we're the only two losers in our group right now?"_

_"Nonsense. I'm just pointing out the fact that they have many rigorous obligations to attend to."_

_Futaba was silent for awhile before speaking again. "What about you, Inari? No artsy jobs to attend to?"_

_"I'm afraid not. I haven't had a chance to do any commissions lately, and I've already tended to my schoolwork for the week."_

_"Ughhhhhhhh." Futaba returned her forehead to the table._

_"We should get jobs."_

_Yusuke's face contorted in confusion, not sure whether he heard correctly._

_"I beg your pardon?"_

_Futaba lifted her head off the table. "Y'know, jobs! So we can make money! God knows you need it."_

_Yusuke grimaced, the sight of his empty wallet flashing in his mind._

_"While I understand the sentiment, I'm not exactly in a search for jobs right now. Besides, I get a monthly stipend from Kosei to help me with my essentials."_

_"Yeah, but that's just that. Essentials. Wouldn't it be nice to get some extra cash for yourself? Ever since Mementos went poof, we haven't been able to roll around in shadow money as much. We're practically broke. Also, we wouldn't be so bored all the time!"_

_At this point, Futaba had made her way next to Yusuke and started rubbing shoulder-to-shoulder with him._

_"Come on, it's a great idea! Yeah?"_

_Yusuke placed his hand on top of Futaba's head to cease her movements._

_"It's not a terrible prospect, but what are we even going to do?"_

_At that moment, Futaba stopped all movement and noise. Yusuke checked her to find a pensive look on her face before it turned into a look of resignation._

" _Ah shit."_

* * *

"Yeah," Futaba replied, "that one."

Yusuke put his hand to his chin, his interest piqued.

"I've assumed you've come up with an idea then?"

"You bet! Check this out!" Futaba turned to the next page revealing a stick figure of Yusuke with a frown, holding a paintbrush. "So, you're an artist, but you don't really get lots of commissions since you're absolutely terrible at advertising yourself. And you're weird." She turned to the next page, a drawing of herself and a laptop ( _he thinks),_ another sad face adorning the stick figure. "And me, I'm a super genius, really cool, awesome, in fact, but I'm a super nerd and I don't like strangers. Buuuuuut." Futaba let the sound of the word hang to build suspension before revealing the next page.

Yusuke was met with the exact same drawings of himself and Futaba, but with a plus sign drawn between the two.

"With our powers combined," Futaba explained, "we can move past our weaknesses and rake in all the shmoney!"

Yusuke was silent, his lips in a thin line.

"How... exactly does this explain what we're doing?"

Futaba huffed in annoyance. "C'mon, Inari! Think about it. You're a talented artist who's won lots of competitions, but you absolutely refuse to let anyone know that. Me, I can't draw, but I have the power of the entire Internet at my side! I know exactly where to post and who to talk to and get your name out there! People will ask for your services, you paint to your heart's content, and I'll handle all the middleman work online!"

Yusuke didn't respond immediately, much to Futaba's chagrin.

It wasn't a terrible idea, he had to admit. She was right in that he wasn't one to flaunt his talents for the world to know, but that was mostly because he was focused on working instead of boasting. He still had several questions.

"You're certain people will pay for this?"

Futaba, excited to catch Yusuke's interest again, was quick to answer. "Of course! I've commissioned tons of fan artists online before."

Yusuke let out a noise in response. "What subjects exactly would I have to work on?"

"That's the fun part! It could be _anything._ "

"Anything?"

"Yeah! Sounds good for practice too, right?"

"Hmm..." Yusuke wasn't exactly thrilled to work on topics that resonated with him, but the prospect of earning money...

"Okay," Yusuke finally declared, "let's see where this goes."

Futaba gasped and latched herself onto Yusuke's back.

"Really?!"

Yusuke almost fell from the sudden weight before regaining his stature.

"I don't see why not. If it doesn't pan out, we don't exactly lose anything."

Futaba giggled in glee.

"Awesome! You see, Inari, I knew you'd make a good business partner! Speaking of," Futaba said, her voice suddenly sounding very serious, "the cut is 50/50 between us straight up."

"Half?! But I'm the one doing most of the artwork!"

Futaba chose to ignore him, walking to her computer and clacking away on her keyboard. Yusuke walked over to her to see the contents on her desktop.

"Is that... is that my artwork?"

Futaba continued scrolling down the webpage filled with an assortment of Yusuke's various works.

"Yup," Futaba replied, nonchalantly.

"Why- when did you do this? At least ask for my permission!"

"Well, I figured you were gonna agree before we did this so, I thought I'd get a head start. Also, I totally got permission. I asked you if I can take pictures of your art, remember?"

"You said it was because you had a newfound appreciation for them."

"Yeah, a newfound appreciation for how they're gonna get us some serious dough."

Yusuke sighed, realizing that he was fighting a losing battle.

Yusuke almost left her to her own devices before she let loose a shocking gasp.

"Futaba?"

She pointed to her computer and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Someone's already requested we work on something!"

That surprised Yusuke, who leaned in to read the name of their new employer.

"HorseLover1997? That's certainly an intriguing name."

"Yeah, not exactly the coolest thing to name yourself but I won't... judge... _what..._ "

A look of amazement, fear, or awe, Yusuke couldn't decipher, took over Futaba's features.

"Futaba?" Yusuke asked in concern. He was met with the same look and no answer. "Futaba?" Yusuke asked again, suddenly very worried.

"They're... look at what they're offering us!"

Yusuke felt relief flood him in recognizing Futaba's usual energy then looked at the price of the piece. It must have been sizeable for her to react like that.

...

Yusuke's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets once he correctly determined the amount they were offered.

...

Yusuke gulped. "That's... that's a copious number of digits."

Futaba laughed in delight. "'Copious?' This is amazing!"

"They're truly willing to spend this much?"

"They already have! That's crazy! We just have to finish their request and it's ours!"

The two began to laugh at their sudden fortune, sharing their glee.

Yusuke was the first to regain his composure.

"So then, Oracle," Yusuke breathed out, returning to the topic at hand. "What does our employer request of us?"

"I don't know. Let's see, Fox," Futaba said, playing along. "It looks like they want you to _paint_ on a 36' x 48' canvas a scene of a person and two horses- _oh holy shit._ "

"Hm?" Futaba's sudden shift in tone caught Yusuke off guard.

"Uh..."

"What is it?" Yusuke looked to read over the certain commission.

...

Yusuke's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets again, but this time he wished they had.

...

"My _goodness..._ what in the world...?" He was at a loss for words.

"I guess that explains their username," Futaba deduced, disgusted at the revelation.

"36' x 48'? For _this_?"

...

The two Phantom Thieves said nothing as silence filled the room.

"Welp, get to work, Inari."

Yusuke was appalled.

" _Excuse me?_ You want me to go through with this?!"

"I mean, yeah. Look at how much they've paid!"

"It's _obscene,_ Futaba!"

"No, it's _art._ "

The two locked eyes in a stalemate, neither willing to give up their ground.

Yusuke relented first, the possibility of filled wallets eroding his will.

"Do I have to?"

Futaba walked over to him and patted his back.

"It's the only way."

Yusuke let Futaba wrap her arm around him as they both resigned themselves to their fates.

"...When do they want it?"

* * *

The hacker and the artist sat alone in their booth in Leblanc in silence.

An alert sounded on Futaba's phone. She checked and worked on her screen before she set it down.

"They got the piece. It's done."

"Mmm."

Yusuke had been silent the past week during his work. Futaba didn't blame him.

"The money went through. I sent half of it to you already."

"Mm. Thank you."

"Yeah."

What should have been a time of celebration was tainted by the filth of their work. They couldn't bring themselves to speak having spent too much time together making sure the requested "art piece" was perfect.

"So much money," Yusuke muttered. "But at what cost?"

"Yeah..." Futaba was several digits richer, but she found it hard to find happiness in their methods.

"Was it truly worth it?"

Futaba sighed, unable to give Yusuke an answer he wanted to hear.

"Wanna go blow all this cash away at a buffet?"

Yusuke nodded, and the two set off to find any joy in a food-lover's paradise.

* * *

"I'm serious, Ren," Makoto insisted, her cell phone to her ear, "something's going on with those two."

Ren, several miles away in a different town, tried to ease his girlfriend's fears.

"It could be nothing, Makoto. You know how those two are."

He heard her sigh over the line.

"It's just, they've been unusually quiet lately, and they suddenly have a ton of money at their disposal. Every time I ask where they got it, they get quiet and look _guilty_."

"...are you accusing them of doing some illegal jobs? Those two don't exactly strike me as the Yakuza type."

" _Ren,_ I'm _serious."_

Ren let out a small laugh to bring some levity. He knew when he was pushing on Makoto's nerves.

"I know, I know. I'll talk to Futaba tomorrow to see what's up, I promise," Ren reassured her. There was a moment of silence.

"You promise?"

"Promise, Queen. Thief's honor."

His response elicited a giggle from her.

"Okay, then. I'll hold you to it."

The two idly chattered for a few more moments before the night overtook them.

"It's getting late. I'll talk to Futaba tomorrow so don't worry about it, alright?"

"Okay. Good night, Ren... I love you."

"Love you too, Queen."

Ren tossed his phone to the pillow next to him and let out a yawn. Morgana jumped onto him and stared at him accusingly.

"What is it?"

Morgana huffed and sat atop him.

"I still can't believe you did that to them," Morgana said, his gaze traveling towards a spot across the room.

In the corner of the room, covered in a tarp, was a 36" x 48" canvas.

He had to get it sent to another location before driving it home, but it was worth it. Ren couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Morgana. It's just a new hobby."

The cat could only sigh.

"I can't believe you spent so much on something so stupid."

"Hey, _I_ can't believe they still followed through. So, who's fault is it really?"

Humanity's hope groaned.

...

"Well... what are you going to do with it?"

Ren mused over the question. He didn't exactly think he'd get this far.

...

"I'm thinking you could use it as a bed."

" _Ren!"_

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to draw your own interpretation of the requested art piece and show it off to your family members


End file.
